Memorial Day and a Random Act of Patriotism

Just another Memorial Day - or was it?: 

I'll get to this in a minute...

I was supposed to be grocery shopping.


That's what I had planned for this morning after my kids walked the mile into town in 82 degrees to watch a 10 minute parade - didn't happen.

That's what I had planned after my kids hung around the lake in town and enjoyed the coolness - didn't happen.

Instead, here I sit. On my deck.  Working on my blog while I drink a banana daiquiri as my day ticks away. 


Today has been relatively calm, except for these dang deer-flies that won't leave me alone since I smell like bananas.


Seriously, where the heck did they come from.  We moved from deer-fly country three hours north.  Why are they here?????  


DIE BUGGERS, DIE!!!!!


So after the boys and I made it to the deck I started documenting my day, of course. Beginning with the geese in the pond across the road.

The babies are getting so big!

Then there were the kazillion pics I took of our Ameriadian flag blowing in the breeze. 

Yes, it's Ameradian. not Canamerican, like India used to claim it was.  It may look like a plain American flag but it isn't.  I bought the flag on the way to my Girl Scout trip to Canada so it was first flown over Ontario for a weekend before it ever flew over American soil.  

Wait! Isn't Canada in North America? So isn't that America? In that case, I guess it did fly over American soil..... maybe...

See the geese in the background.
They are so cute!

Say hello to My Little Friend

Andrew found this cute little guy in an area that India and Andrew cleared out for my vegetables.  I made him laugh repeatedly when My Little Friend kept "talking" to him in a silly voice.

Up next, a fierce game of kickball where Andrew thought he could beat the team of Nick and me. Didn't happen.  Mom kicks kickball butt any day of the week. 

Nick was getting a bit smug at our making points, and started gloating.

We kept repeatedly kicking the ball onto the pitch of the house and into the ditch on the other side of the hedges. It was pretty cool watching the ball start at the peak and roll from roof to roof before bouncing around the front deck and into the sidewalk between flower beds.

The boys debated on how incredibly hot it was in the sunlight. 

Random thought:


I killed a wolf spider.  I didn't mean to. He hid under my computer and I tried to move him but mortally wounded him instead.  I feel so bad.....

Now some random pics of the day:

Nick, India and I played with our old mailbox
and came up with this.

Esme is the only one of our cats allowed outdoors
since she always stays near us.

He's old, he's blind and he is devoted to his Mommy
- me -
My little Timothy!

Sugar, Great Googly Moogly, Kitty
Whatever you call her, she is darn cute!

Some of my plants I re-potted the other day.
I seriously love plants.
It's a good thing I fell in love with a Dutchman who's Dad used to own a nursery.

Banana Daiquiri - does it get better than this? 

Matthew's official Memorial Day portrait.
He poses so nicely for me, don't you think?

Matthew's idea of Memorial Day fun
after rebuilding the garden tractor.
I think haying equipment would have been more appropriate.
Five acres, one lawn mower, three days
..... repeat.

All I needed was 3 cups of shredded Gouda -
 India was so frustrated trying to get that amount.
And for some reason she kept slapping my hand.

This bottle was knocked off the table 7 times and never even cracked.

Matthew took this pic of the sprinklers - pretty cool!

Now, back to the grill. 


I thought how much more tidy it would be to cover the grates in aluminum foil.


A plan not well thought out...


So India and I were forming the Gouda-filled burgers in the kitchen when William came running in saying the grill's cabinet was on fire.  I ran out and saw the flames shooting out of the sides of the cabinet and from the top. I ran back in to get the extinguishers. 


No, I will not pretend I was calm. 


I was picturing the tank exploding along with my beautiful house.


As I was spraying the foam, thick black smoke poured up the hill toward the shop, where Matthew and Andrew were. Sorry, too much panicking for anyone to take pics.

Things I learned: 

I know how to use a fire extinguisher 

Our smoke detectors work. 

Matthew and Andrew can run really fast!!

Check this out!
The cover melted to the bag of mesquite chips
but never damaged the bag or chips.

The foil melted off.
I guess the grill was trying to remove itself from the covering.

Matthew to the rescue.

Matthew hosed off the foam so we could continue cooking.
How funny that just a couple of hours earlier I was thinking of using the grill cleaner on it.

Yet, India never stopped preparing the burgers in the kitchen through the entire thing.


I counted 8 times that Matthew repeated "Don't cover the grates in foil" during the time he was cleaning the grill - and since then... 


Or as he said when Andrew jokingly asked if he wanted some foil, "I don't need no stinkin' foil."


Every so often that rancid burning plastic/rubber/whatever it is smell comes out of the open windows of the house.  Thankfully the baby chicken and the Cockatiel in the house are still okay and the smell didn't overwhelm them.

These were in the pot on the side-burner.
Although the water was completely gone, the noodles cooked perfectly.
hmmm... new cooking tip?

Back to business as usual.

India and Matthew cooking the burgers
with William's supervision.
Love the extinguisher and debris all around

Can we call these post-flame-broiled?

Look familiar?
Nope - now we can see his other eye.

There!
Now we finally got a picture of Matthew.
Still looking at his phone - he was watching "Scrubs" on Netflix
(New profile pic for FB? hmmm...)

As the sun was setting, We played another rowdy game of kickball where India joined us while the two dogs stayed clustered by my feet and ran with me. 

The game often turned ugly with brutal attacks made on me by India.  She even had me to the ground while she kneeled on my hair as Andrew was pulling her off of me.

I will adamantly deny any attacks that she may say were made on her by me.


She lies!


We played long after dark in the light of the streetlight, deck light, lamp post and solar lights (the town has street lights all the way to the state line). The combo lit the front lawn pretty well.


I'm ending my blog a little after 10pm.  I'm in bed, exhausted, drinking iced tea and talking to Johannes.  Andrew and Nick are playing with sparklers  and things like whatever this is in the pic, since Matthew and I told them we've already had one bonfire today. 

Before I end this I would like to share something I discovered in the blogosphere.


I found this video at The Laughing Mom .  


Like Terri says at the end of her blog:
This video captures one of the most heart-felt random acts of patriotism I’ve ever seen.  An American Airlines employee known only as “Brett” spontaneously sang the Star Spangled Banner over a loud-speaker at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on the anniversary of 9/11, bringing dozens of travelers to their feet as they looked on in silence.  Brett has an amazing voice and he used it in an incredible random act of patriotism.  I challenge you to have a dry eye after viewing it.


Thank you Brett.

God Bless America.

Oudoe,

Ingrid